Name Silatch In service 1910–1917 | Completed 1910 Name Silatch | |
Builder W. Crichton, Saint Petersburg, Russia Fate Captured by the Bolsheviks in 1917 | ||
Ilmarinen was a small steam-powered icebreaker that was part of the Finnish state-owned icebreaker fleet in 1918–1922. Built as Silatch for Russia, she was given back her original name when the ship was returned to the Soviet Union in 1922.
Contents
History
The ship was built in 1910 by W. Crichton shipyard in Saint Petersburg, Russia, as Silatch. She was taken over by the Bolsheviks in 1917 during the October Revolution, but retained her original name.
On 4 May 1918, in the aftermath of the Finnish Civil War, Silatch arrived secretly in Kotka, Finland, to evacuate remaining members of the Finnish Red Guard. However, she was confiscated by the Finns and joined the Finnish icebreaker fleet as Ilmarinen, after the legendary hero from Kalevala. In December 1919 she was sent to Koivisto to assist three Finnish torpedo boats, C1, C2 and C3 that had been surrounded by ice some 15 centimetres (5.9 in) thick. The 150-ton torpedo boats had participated in the British campaign in the Baltic, and Admiral Walter Cowan had demanded that the Finnish squadron patrolling the area had to stay until the British forces had withdrawn. Despite the efforts of Ilmarinen, the weak-hulled torpedo boats were crushed by the ice, and the newly founded Finnish Navy lost 20% of its ships. After the winter of 1919 Ilmarinen was laid up until she was returned to the Soviet Union according to the Treaty of Tartu. In turn the Soviets gave back the Finnish icebreaker Avance.
After rejoining the Soviet Union the ship was given back her original name, Silatch, and was again stationed in Saint Petersburg, which had been renamed Leningrad following the revolution. Her subsequent career and final fate is not known.
The name was later given to Finnish coastal defence ship Ilmarinen, which was launched in 1931.
Technical details
The 910-ton Ilmarinen was 47.0 metres (154.2 ft) long, 10.1 metres (33 ft) wide and had a draft of 5.3 metres (17 ft). She was powered by a single triple-expansion steam engine producing 1,000 indicated horsepower (750 kW) and propelled by a four-bladed propeller in the stern. In Finnish service she had a crew of 32–33, of which 8 or 9 were officers. In terms of size and design she was comparable to the Finnish icebreakers Murtaja and Apu.